Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Directorate of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Goa, has issued an advisory informing healthcare institutions and medical practitioners about the Central Government’s decision to prohibit the manufacture, sale and distribution of 16 Fixed-Dose Combination (FDC) drugs for human use.
According to the FDA, the ban has been imposed under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, following recommendations of the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB).
The prohibited FDCs were found to have no therapeutic justification and are considered likely to pose risks to human health. The Board also noted that safer alternatives to these medicines are available.
The FDA has directed all drug retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, government hospitals, district hospitals, urban and community health centres, primary health centres, dispensaries, Goa Medical College and Hospital, nursing homes, private hospitals, the Goa Medical Council, the Indian Medical Association and registered medical practitioners across the state to take note of the ban.
Medical practitioners have been advised not to prescribe the banned drugs in the interest of patient safety, while retailers and wholesalers have been instructed not to stock, dispense or distribute the prohibited medicines.
The Directorate has further directed pharmacies, hospitals, clinics and dispensaries to identify the banned drugs in their inventories, remove them from shelves and return them to suppliers while informing the FDA.
Details of the banned Fixed-Dose Combination drugs have been uploaded on the FDA’s official website for reference and compliance.
